from Iowa [Mr. HAUGEN] spoke to me about bringing up the conference report on the farm relief bill. I do not see the gentleman on the floor at this time.

Mr. DOWELL. I understand he will be here in just a moment.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

A message from the President of the United States was presented to the House of Representatives by Mr. Latta, one of his secretaries, who also announced that on the following dates the President approved and signed bills and joint resolutions of the House of the following titles:

H. J. Res. 177. Joint resolution authorizing the erection of a flagstaff at Fort Sumter, Charleston, S. C., and for other purposes;

H. R. 21. An act to provide for date of precedence of certain officers of the staff corps of the Navy;

H. R. 4357. An act for the relief of William Childers; H. R. 5465. An act to amend section 1571 of the Revised Statutes to permit officers of the Navy to count duty on airships as sea duty;

H. R. 5531. An act to amend the provision contained in the act approved August 29, 1916, relating to the assignment to duty of certain officers of the United States Navy as fleet and squadron engineers;

H. R. 5746. An act to authorize the appraisal of certain Government property, and for other purposes;

H. R. 6492. An act to authorize the Secretary of War to donate to the city of Charleston, S. C., a certain bronze cannon; and

H. R. 10544. An act to abolish the office of administrative assistant and disbursing officer in the Library of Congress and to reassign the duties thereof.

On May 12, 1928:

H. J. Res. 200. Joint resolution to amend section 10 of the act entitled "An act to establish the upper Mississippi River wild life and fish refuge," approved June 7, 1924;

H. R. 239. An act to amend section 110 of the national defense act by repealing and striking therefrom certain provisions prescribing additional qualifications for National Guard State staff officers, and for other purposes;

H. R. 244. An act to enable members of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps who have interrupted the course of training prescribed in the act of June 4, 1920, to resume such training, and amended accordingly section 47c of that act;

H. R. 3029. An act for the relief of Vern E. Townsend; H. R. 5789. An act to provide for the gratuitous issue of service medals and similar devices, for the replacement of the same, and for other purposes;

H. R. 7227. An act for the relief of William H. Dotson;
H. R. 9148. An act for the relief of Ensign Jacob E. DeGarmo,
United States Navy;

H. R. 10192. An act for the relief of Lois Wilson; and
H. R. 11741. An act for the relief of Thomas Edwin Huff-

man.

On May 14, 1928:

H. R. 4993. An act for the relief of William Thurman Enoch; H. R. 5968. An act for the relief of Byron Brown Ralston; H. R. 6844. An act concerning liability for participation in breaches of fiduciary obligations and to make uniform the law with reference thereto;

H. R. 7937. An act to authorize mapping agencies of the Government to assist in preparation of military maps;

H. R. 9043. An act to authorize the payment of an indemnity to the Government of France on account of losses sustained by the owners of the French steamship Madeleine as a result of a collision between it and the United States steamship Kerwood; H. R. 10643. An act authorizing the Gulf Coast Properties (Inc.), its successors and assigns, to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge across Lake Champlain at or near Rouses Point, N. Y.;

H. R. 11692. An act authorizing the Gulf Coast Properties (Inc.), a Florida corporation, of Jacksonville, Duval County, Fla., its successors and assigns, to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge across the Lake Champlain at or near East Alburg, Vt.;

H. R. 11797. An act granting the consent of Congress to Columbus County, State of North Carolina, to construct, maintain, and operate a free highway bridge across the Waccamaw River at or near Reeves Ferry, Columbus County, N. C.; and H. R. 11992. An act granting the consent of Congress to the Arkansas Highway Commission to construct, maintain, and operate a free highway bridge across the Current River at or near Biggers, Ark.;

CONVICT-MADE GOODS

Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, I call up a privileged resolution from the Committee on Rules.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from New York calls up a privileged resolution from the Committee on Rules, which the Clerk will report.

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

House Resolution 196

Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of H. R. 7729, to divest goods, wares, and merchandise manufactured, produced, or mined by convicts or prisoners of their interstate character in certain cases. That after general debate, which shall be confined to the bill and shall continue not to exceed three hours, to be equally divided and controlled by those favoring and opposing the bill, the bill shall be read for amendment under the five-minute rule. At the conclusion of the reading of the bill for amendment the committee shall arise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted, and the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and the amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.

Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is for the consideration of the Hawes-Cooper prison labor bill. I do not think it is necessary to take any special time in explaining the resolution because it simply provides for the consideration of the bill under the general rules of the House with three hours' general debate, but I desire to make a very brief statement with regard to the bill itself.

There have been a great many questions asked as to just what the bill does. My understanding is that the bill simply divests prison-made products of their interstate character on their arrival in the State of their final destination or, in other words, it gives the right to the State in which these goods are to be sold to control the distribution and sale of those goods. It subjects goods coming from an outside State to the same conditions as prison-made goods in the State itself. It does not call for any additional legislation on the part of any of the individual States. It in no way interferes with each State managing its prison labor as it sees fit. It simply protects the State into which these goods are sent for final sale.

Mr. BUSBY. Will the gentleman yield for a question? Mr. SNELL. Yes; I will be pleased to yield.

Mr. BUSBY.

In the event agricultural products are produced by convict labor, as they are in Mississippi, would such products be subjected to the same State regulations on their arrival in another State as manufactured goods such as clothing, and so forth?

Mr. SNELL. I am frank to say that question has been raised, but I am unable to answer it. I do not believe you could follow agricultural products in that way or in the same way that you could follow a bale of brooms or a bale of overalls or a bale of shirts.

Mr. BUSBY. Looking to the provisions of the bill, then it is the gentleman's opinion that agricultural products could not be followed in detail sufficiently to be regulated by the provisions of this bill, if enacted.

Mr. SNELL. That is what I am told. I do not believe they could be followed and I do not think it is intended to apply in the broadest sense to agricultural products.

Mr. BUSBY. This is an important proposition with respect to my State, and I wanted to get the gentleman's idea about it. Mr. LAGUARDIA. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SNELL. Yes.

Mr. LAGUARDIA. I think the gentleman is in error because the bill states "all goods, wares, and merchandise, manufactured, produced, or mined." I do not see how you could escape the provisions of the law.

Mr. SNELL. I do not believe there would be any objection to putting in a provision excepting agricultural products, because you can not follow those products, and I do not understand there is any complaint from that source.

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. Will the gentleman yield there? Mr. SNELL. Yes.

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. The State of Texas, like the State of Mississippi, uses its convicts in raising agricultural products, and I am wondering if there would be any objection to an amendment clarifying the matter.

Mr. SNELL. I would like to call on the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. KOPP], the chairman of the Commitete on Labor, to answer that question, because he is better qualified to answer it than I am.

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. I may say to the gentleman from Iowa I am asking whether or not there would be any objection on the part of the committee to amending this bill so as to exempt agricultural products. In our State, as well as in some other States, we have no such manufactured goods, but we do have farm products produced by the convicts.

Mr. KOPP. Mr. COOPER of Ohio, the author of the bill, is here, and I shall refer the question to him.

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. The chairman of the Rules Committee referred the question to the chairman of the. Labor Committee, and he now refers it to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. TUCKER. I would like to ask the gentleman from New York a question.

Mr. SNELL. One at a time, please.

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, in answer to the gentleman from Texas, I will say that I think we ought to wait a while before we decide this question.

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas. I have asked the question, so the gentlemen could be considering the matter, and I may say that I would like to see this exception made.

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. I think we can take that up after we get into committee.

Mr. BUSBY. There seems to be no unanimity of opinion on the proposition.

Mr. SNELL. We have given three hours of general debate for the purpose of settling all these questions.

Mr. TUCKER. I desire to ask the gentleman this question.

I never saw this bill until this morning

Mr. SNELL. It or a similar bili has been before the Congress for 20 years and has passed the House at least three times before this.

Mr. TUCKER. Then it has been my misfortune.

Mr. SNELL. I have found out there are good lawyers on both sides of this matter. I am not a lawyer and I am not going to be drawn into this constitutional question. Mr. DYER. Will the gentleman yield? Mr. SNELL.

Certainly.

Mr. DYER. The gentleman from New York permitted a question to be asked of the author of the bill with reference to excepting agricultural products. I would like to ask the gentleman from New York if he, the chairman of the Rules Committee and the great leader of this House that he is, is in favor of this kind of class legislation.

Mr. SNELL. I am in favor of this bill, I will tell you that without any hesitation. If the gentleman is not, he can produce his argument on the floor.

Mr. BRAND of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield for a simple question?

Mr. SNELL. Yes; if I can answer it.

Mr. BRAND of Georgia. Does this proposed legislation affect any States where at present they have no law on the subject?

Mr. SNELL. No: I understand it does not. It does not interfere with any laws at all of the different States.

Mr. BRAND of Georgia. We have not any law in our State.
Mr. SNELL. Then it does not affect you.

Mr. NEWTON. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SNELL. Yes.

Mr. NEWTON. As I understand, this will apply not only to contract-made goods in prisons, but also to any goods that are made in prison by the prison authorities and without any contract with any private person.

Mr. SNELL. There is no distinguishing feature between the two classes of goods, if they are shipped into other States, but applies to each alike.

Mr. NEWTON. So far as the bill is concerned.
Mr. SNELL. None at all.

Mr. HARE. Will the gentleman yield for a question there?
Mr. SNELL. Yes.

Mr. HARE. Is this bill designed to prevent the prisoners of a State from making any kind of commodity?

Mr. SNELL. It does not interfere with any prison-made goods at all as long as you keep them within your own State; but if you want to ship them into my State you must comply with the laws of my State. But you can run your own prisons and do anything you want, so long as you keep prison-made goods out of my State or out of any other State that has laws on the subject.

Mr. HARE. Suppose the prisoners of a State are engaged in producing farm crops, like corn

Mr. SNELL. That question has been asked, and I have stated I can not answer it.

Mr. HARE. I would like for somebody to answer that before I vote to consider the bill, because if there is nobody ready to explain it I want to know it.

Mr. VINSON of Kentucky. A State that does not have a law on this subject might enact such legislation subsequent to the passage of this bill. Is it the opinion of the gentleman that that would prohibit the convict-made goods coming into that State? Mr. SNELL. It limits those goods to the same conditions that are applicable to goods made in the State's own prison. Mr. COOPER of Ohio. It would not prohibit the shipment of the goods?

Mr. SNELL. No: it would limit the sale of them to the same conditions that apply to goods made in that State.

Mr. VINSON of Kentucky. What would be the use of shipping them if they could not be disposed of?

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. I do not think Congress has authority to make any law prohibiting the shipment of goods, the shipment of legitimately made goods, through interstate commerce. We are not attempting to do that.

Mr. GARRETT of Tennessee. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SNELL. I will.

Mr. GARRETT of Tennessee. It has been privately stated, or at least a rumor is running around, that an amendment is

Mr. SNELL. I have yielded to the gentleman from Virginia. Mr. VINSON of Kentucky. I would like to intersperse this statement. This bill has not passed the Congress three times. Mr. SNELL. Similar bills have passed the House. Mr. VINSON of Kentucky. The bill that passed the House prohibited the shipment of such goods in interstate commerce. Mr. TUCKER. As I read this bill rather hastily, is it merely declaratory of what the law now is?

Mr. SNELL. I can not answer that question.
Mr. TUCKER. Well, I think I can.

agricultural products. Whether that rumor is correct or not I do not know.

Mr. SNELL. I will say that it has not reached me yet. Mr. GARRETT of Tennessee. If cotton is to be excluded, upon what justification can we continue it on another product? Of cotton there is a tremendous surplus.

Mr. SNELL. Of course, that is a different proposition. Where you put prison labor to the manufacture of overalls-and I use that as an illustration-and dump them all in one State they come into competition with the manufacturer of overalls that employs labor obtained in the open market and pays the market

price. Certainly prison-made overalls can be sold much cheaper than the legitimate manufacturer can produce them. There is a very small amount of cotton produced by prison labor. Mr. COLLIER. What about the raw material?

Mr. SNELL. That is what I am talking about-the raw cotton.

Mr. COLLIER. Suppose convict labor in a State produces several hundred thousand bales of cotton-under the provisions of this bill the cotton could not be shipped to another State? Mr. SNELL. I have answered that question once, that I did not know. I think that will be fully explained later.

Mr. LINTHICUM. Who objected to the bill?

Mr. SNELL. The objections came from the wardens of the prison, who said that they would have considerable trouble in readjusting the present labor in the prisons, and that was the reason we gave them two years.

Mr. LINTHICUM. They claimed that it would throw their men out of employment and they did not know what they would do with them?

Mr. SNELL. They said it would take some time to readjust conditions, but not necessarily throw them out of employment, and that is the reason we gave them two years to readjust their prison-labor problem.

Mr. LOZIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SNELL. Yes.

Mr. LOZIER, Is it not true that it was stated that they could readjust their present plant and comply with the new conditions within two years?

Mr. SNELL. That is the statement that I am making. There was nothing said in favor of the contract-labor system by anybody. None of these people had the temerity to come before the committee and present their case, although a large amount of goods is sold through contractors.

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. Is not this bill an enabling act to enable each State to regulate the sale of prison-made goods, and that it does not prohibit the transportation of prison-made goods?

Mr. MERRITT. Is not the prohibiting of transportation an indirect way of prohibiting the sale of goods?

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. This does not prohibit the shipment of goods.

Mr. MERRITT. Does it not prohibit the transportation? Mr. COOPER of Ohio. Let me ask the gentleman a question. Suppose the State of Connecticut had a law regulating the sale of convict-made goods. It would be manifestly unfair for some other State of the Union to dump millions of dollars' worth of prison-made goods into the State of Connecticut, and the State of Connecticut have no regulation or control over them.

Mr. MERRITT. That would not be any more difficult than dumping any other kind of goods made in any other way.

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. The only thing this bill seeks to do is to remedy the situation and give each State in the Union the right to regulate the sale of convict-made goods.

Mr. MERRITT. Is it not true that it gives each State in the Union the power to control the practices and regulations of some other States?

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. Not exactly.

Mr. TUCKER. Do I understand the gentleman from Ohio to state that this is an enabling act?

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. Yes.

Mr. TUCKER. To enable what?

Mr. COOPER of Ohio. Each State in the Union to regulate the sale of prison-made goods.

Mr. TUCKER. Has Congress the right to give such rights to the States?

Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, I do not care to yield any further to these constitutional arguments. The rule provides for three hours of general debate. The bill is favored by the manufacturers, by union labor, and by the women's clubs of America. It is an important matter and should receive the careful and considerate attention of this body.

I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. RAMSEYER].

Mr. RAMSEYER. Mr. Speaker, this bill comes before the House of Representatives with the best kind of intentions and the highest purposes back of it. It has back of it, as the gentleman from New York [Mr. SNELL] stated, organized labor, the manufacturers, the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and various prison-reform organizations. It has the backing of organizations that I like to agree with, that every Member of the House likes to agree with. We do not like to find ourselves in disagreement with such organizations.

The proponents of the bill state in their report and otherwise that it is not the purpose of the proposed legislation to force

idleness upon the prisoners of the country. In fact, they insist for the welfare of the prisoners and the welfare of society that the prisoners should be kept at some useful labor. Very well. You can not keep prisoners busy at anything, I do not care what it is, unless the products they make come in competition in some way with free labor. Even the janitor work of the prisons could be done by some one else than the prisoners, so gentlemen should get that out of their minds that there is some way to keep prisoners employed without displacing free labor. If you are going to keep the prisoners busy, then the prisoners are going to compete with free labor somewhere, whether the products of their labor are sold within the States only where produced or whether such products are sold in interstate com

merce.

The question of farm labor came up before the Committee on Rules. It came up as to whether or not the products produced on these prison farms would come under this bill. There is no question about that. The suggestion was made that we should except agricultural products. That is fine for us from the agricultural sections where we already have an overproduction of agricultural products. Take the prisoners away from making binder twine and automobile tags and shirts, etc., and put them to producing farm products in competition with the farmer! It is absurd for anybody to suggest that this House will accept such an amendment to this bill as that. Everyone who has any regard at all for agriculture and the welfare of agriculture will resist this proposition.

Mr. CARSS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. RAMSEYER. Yes.

Mr. CARSS. Will the gentleman explain how this bill protecting a few industries against unfair competition will hurt the farmers? If the farmers' customers are thrown out of work, the farmer will thereby suffer.

Mr. RAMSEYER. The suggestion is made to except agricultural products. You are going to prohibit, in effect, prisonmade goods in interstate commerce except the products produced on prison farms.

Mr. CARSS. I do not think that they have ever accepted that.

Mr. RAMSEYER. The suggestion was made before the Committee on Rules, and the suggestion again was made seriously here in the House this morning.

The committee report is very misleading in that it says “that prisoners must be employed is one of the principles upon which the bill is founded." The bill is not founded on anything of the kind. There is not a word in the bill which says that the prisoners must be kept busy. Furthermore, the report says that "as a result of the passage of this measure the prisoners of the future will not only be employed, but may be employed in such a way as to bring about, through scientific methods, their possible rehabilitation for reentrance into society." Mr. Speaker, there is not a word in the bill which justifies this statement.

There is another more vital objection to this bill that to my mind is insurmountable. As I said before, I question neither the high purpose nor the good intentions of the proponents of the bill, but lest you did not get it, let me repeat that you can not employ prison labor at anything-I do not care what it isunless you compete with some form of free labor. There is another mighty force back of this bill, and that is the fact that five States in the Union by their laws have in some way managed to take care of the goods produced in their own penitentiaries by using them in their State and local institutions. I refer to Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois.

The chief question before us is, Can we enact, constitutionally, a bill of this kind? I think it is the duty of every Member as he approaches any proposition coming here to first ask himself whether the proposition to be enacted into law is within the powers conferred by the Constitution on the Congress to legislate upon.

It is said that the bill before us is modeled after the act of August 8, 1890, the Wilson Act, which undertook to make intoxicating liquors subject to State laws upon the arrival of such liquors in those States. One vital difference between that act and the bill before us is the phrase that I shall read to you: The Wilson Act deals with intoxicating liquors and the phrase in this act to which I refer is "enacted in the exercise of its police power."

I am here to tell you, so far as I have been able to learn, that no laws have been enacted by Congress prohibiting commodities in interstate commerce or making them subject to State laws unless there was something about the commodity itself which was deleterious either to the health or to the morals of the people. The laws heretofore enacted regulated or prohibited

3. Articles designed for indecent or immoral use.

4. Cattle suffering from contagious disease.

5. Impure and adulterated foods and drugs.

"SECTION 1. In order to stabilize the current of interstate and foreign commerce in the marketing of agricultural commodities and prevent suppression of commerce with foreign nations in such commodities and unjust discrimination against such foreign commerce, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to promote the orderly marketing of agricultural commodities in interstate and foreign commerce, and to that end, through the execution of the provisions of this act. to provide for the control and disposition of surpluses of such

7. Firearms and poisons and explosives.

The only articles of commerce which Congress had heretofore made subject to the operation and effect of the laws of the States into which they were shipped are intoxicating liquors under the Wilson Act and Webb-Kenyon Act. If you can prohibit from interstate commerce or prevent the sale in a Stateand that, of course, puts them out of interstate commercebecause of the place where they are made or because by whom made, then you can prohibit articles made by Chinamen and Japanese. Suppose the State of Connecticut here had laws to regulate the sale of goods made by Chinamen and Japanese in Connecticut. Then Congress comes along and passes a law to the effect that articles made by Japanese and Chinamen shall be subject to the laws of the State into which they are shipped. You could make the same regulations as to goods made by aliens or by nonunion labor. You have no precedent or constitutional authority for the proposed legislation, and if this bill is constitutional, then you can keep any goods out of interstate commerce if you can get Congress to enact a law to make such goods subject to the laws of the State upon their arrival in that State. [Applause.]

Mr. SNELL. I have always found that when a lawyer opposes a bill and can not give a very good reason for his opposition, he can always find an excuse by hiding behind a constitutional provision. You can find as many good lawyers supporting the constitutionality of this measure as are opposing it.

Mr. RAMSEYER. Does not the gentleman concede that it is the duty of Members of Congress to consider the constitutionality of every bill that comes before them, and is it not their duty. when they have formed their opinion that it is unconstitutional, to vote against it upon that ground if upon no other ground?

Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, I move the previous question on

the resolution.

such commodities, to prevent such surpluses from unduly decausing undue and excessive fluctuations in the markets for pressing the prices obtained for such commodities and from keting such commodities, and to further the organization of such commodities, to minimize speculation and waste in marproducers of such commodities into cooperative associations.

"FEDERAL FARM BOARD

"SEC. 2. (a) A Federal Farm Board is hereby created which shall consist of the Secretary of Agriculture, who shall be a member ex officio, and twelve members, one from each of the twelve Federal land-bank districts, who shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

"(b) The terms of office of the appointed members of the board first taking office after the approval of this Act. shall expire, as designated by the President at the time of nomination, four at the end of the second year, four at the end of the fourth year, and four at the end of the sixth year, after the date of the approval of this act. A successor to an appointed member of the board shall be appointed in the same manner as the original appointed members, and shall have a term of office expiring six years from the date of the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

"(c) Any person appointed to fill a vacancy in the board occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term.

"(d) Any member of the board in office at the expiration of the term for which he was appointed, may continue in office until his successor takes office.

"(e) Vacancies in the board shall not impair the powers of the remaining members to execute the functions of the board, and a majority of the appointed members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the board.

"(f) Each of the appointed members of the board shall be a citizen of the United States, shall be the producer of some one or more agricultural products or shall be interested in and truly representative of agriculture, shall not actively engage in any other business, vocation, or employment than that of serving as a member of the board, and shall receive a salary of $10,000 incurred for subsistence or per diem allowance in lieu thereof, a year, together with necessary traveling expenses and expenses within the limitations prescribed by law, while away from the principal office of the board on business required by this act, or if assigned to any other office established by the board, then while away from such office on business required by this act.

"SEC. 3. The board

"GENERAL POWERS

"(h) Shall keep advised, from any available sources, of crop prices, prospects, supply, and demand, at home and abroad, with especial attention to the existence or the probability of the existence of a surplus of any agricultural commodity or any of its food products, and it may advise producers through their organizations or otherwise in matters connected with the adjustment of production, distribution, and marketing of any such commodity, in order that they may secure the maximum benefits under this act.

"(i) Shall advise producers through their organizations or otherwise in the development of suitable programs of planting or breeding, so that burdensome crop surpluses may be avoided or minimized, in order that they may secure such benefits. "COMMODITY ADVISORY COUNCILS

"SEC. 4. (a) Prior to the commencement of a marketing period in respect of any agricultural commodity the board is directed to create for such commodity an advisory council, which shall be a governmental agency composed of seven members fairly representative of the producers of such commodity. Members of each commodity advisory council shall be selected annually by the board only from lists submitted by the cooperative associations and by other organizations representative of the producers of the commodity in each State that produced in the preceding five crop years, according to the estimates of the United States Department of Agriculture, an average of three per cent or more of the average anuual total domestic production of the commodity, and from lists submitted by the governors and by the heads of the agricultural departments of such States. Members of each commodity advisory council shall serve without salary but may be paid by the board a per diem compensation not exceeding $20 for attending meetings of the council and for time devoted to other business of the council and authorized by the board. Each council member shall be paid by the board his necessary traveling expenses to and from meetings of the council and his expenses incurred for subsistence, or per diem allowance in lieu thereof, within the limitations prescribed by law, while engaged upon the business of the council. Each commodity advisory council shall be designated by the name of the commodity it represents, as, for example, The Cotton Advisory Council.'

"(b) Each commodity advisory council shall meet as soon as practicable after its selection at a time and place designated by the board and select a chairman. The board may designate a secretary of the council, subject to the approval of the council. "(c) Each commodity advisory council shall meet thereafter at least twice in each year at a time and place designated by the board, or upon call of a majority of its members at a time and place designated in the call, notice of such call being sent by registered mail at least 10 days before the date of the meeting.

"(d) Each commodity advisory council shall have power, by itself or through its officers, (1) to confer directly with the board, to call for information from it, or to make oral or written representations to it, concerning matters within the jurisdiction of the board and relating to the agricultural commodity, including the amount and method of collection of the equalization fee, and (2) to cooperate with the board in advising the producers through their organizations or otherwise in the development of suitable programs of planting or breeding so that burdensome crop surpluses may be avoided or minimized, in order to secure the maximum benefits under this act.

"(e) Prior to the commencement or termination of a marketing period with respect to any agricultural commodity and prior to the publication of the amount of any equalization fee with respect to any agricultural commodity, the board shall submit to the advisory council for the commodity a statement of the respective findings or estimate which the board is required to make and of the evidence and facts considered by the board in making such findings or estimate. Within 15 days after receiving such statement, the advisory council shall consider such findings or estimate and shall notify the board of its determination made with respect thereto. No marketing period with respect to any agricultural commodity shall be commenced or terminated and no equalization fee with respect to the commodity shall be collected, unless the advisory council for such commodity has determined (1) that the findings or estimate which the board is required to make are supported by the evidence and facts considered by the board, and (2) that the board has considered substantially all the material facts and evidence available for making the findings or estimate.

"LOANS

"SEC. 5. (a) The board is authorized to make loans, out of the revolving fund hereinafter created, to any cooperative association or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations, upon such terms and conditions as, in

the judgment of the board, will afford adequate assurance of repayment and carry out the policy declared in section 1, and upon such other terms and conditions as the board deems necessary. Such loans shall be for one of the following purposes:

"(1) For the purpose of assisting the cooperative association or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations, in controlling a seasonal or year's total surplus, produced in the United States and either local or national in extent, that is in excess of the requirements for the orderly marketing of any agricultural commodity or in excess of the domestic requirements for such commodity.

"(2) For the purpose of developing continuity of cooperative services from the point of production to and including the point of terminal marketing services, if the proceeds of the loan are to be used either (A) for working capital for the cooperative association or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations, or (B) for assisting the cooperative association or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations, in the acquisition, by purchase, construction, or otherwise, of facilities and equipment, including terminal marketing facilities and equipment, for the preparing, handling, storing, processing, or sale or other disposition of agricultural commodities, or (C) for furnishing funds to the cooperative association or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations for use as capital for any agricultural credit corporation eligible to receive discounts under section 202 of the Federal farm loan act, as amended, or (D) for furnishing funds to the cooperative association or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations for necessary expenditures in federating, consolidating, merging, or extending the membership of cooperative associations or corporations created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations. The cooperative association, or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations, shall repay the loan, together with the interest thereon, within a period of not more than 20 years, by means of a charge to be deducted from the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of each unit of the agricultural commodity handled by the association or corporation, unless some other method of repayment is agreed upon by the board and the association or corporation.

"(b) Any loan under this section shall bear interest at the rate of 4 per cent per annum. The aggregate amount of loans under this section, outstanding and unpaid at any one time, shall not exceed $200,000,000, but―

"(1) The aggregate amount of loans for all purposes under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), outstanding and unpaid at any one time, shall not exceed $25,000,000; and

"(2) The aggregate amount of loans for the purpose of expenditures in federating, consolidating, merging, or extending the membership of cooperative associations or corporations created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations, outstanding and unpaid at any one time, shall not exceed $1,000,000.

"INCREASED PRODUCTION

"SEC. 6. If the board finds that its advice as to a program of planting or breeding of any agricultural commodity as hereinbefore provided has been substantially disregarded by the producers of the commodity, or that the planting or breeding of any agricultural commodity for any year is substantially greater than a normal increase, as determined by the board, over the average planting or breeding of such commodity or the preceding 5 years, the board may refuse to make loans for the purchase of such commodity.

"CLEARING HOUSE AND TERMINAL MARKET ASSOCIATIONS "SEC. 7. The board may assist in the establishment of and provide for the registration of, in accordance with such regulations as it may prescribe, (1) clearing-house associations adapted, in the opinion of the board, to effect the more orderly production, distribution, and marketing of any agricultural commodity, to prevent gluts or famines in any market for such commodity, and to reduce waste incident to the marketing of such commodity, and (2) terminal market associations adapted, in the opinion of the board, to maintain public markets in distribution centers for the more orderly distribution and marketing of any agricultural commodity. Only cooperative associations or corporations created or controlled by one or more cooperative associations shall be eligible for membership in any clearing-house association or terminal market association registered under this section. Rules for the governance of any such association shall be adopted by the members thereof with the approval of the board.

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MARKETING AGREEMENTS

"SEC. 8. (a) From time to time upon request of the advisory council for any agricultural commodity, or upon request of